Cases
J v Bath and North East Somerset Council & Ors [2025] EWCA Civ 478
St John’s Chambers has a lengthy roster of silks and juniors with invaluable expertise in a wide range of family and matrimonial matters.”
- Client Quotes
“St Johns Chambers is one of the fore-front chambers offering counsel for Public Childcare. The clerks are particularly helpful and will go above and beyond to find cover for hearings at short notice.”
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Voted “Family Law Chambers of the Year – Regional” at the Family Law Awards in 2025 and 2023, and shortlisted in 2024. St John’s Chambers has firmly established itself as a leader in family law.
Our Family & Divorce team is one of the foremost sets practising on the Western Circuit, with a national and international reputation for excellence. With two silks and twenty-nine juniors, including three Recorders (one a Deputy High Court Judge of the Family Division), a fee-paid First-tier Tribunal Judge, and four Deputy District Judges, the team is recognised for its depth of expertise, advocacy skills, and commitment to client service.
Recognised excellence
We are consistently ranked Band 1 in Chambers UK, with clients praising our barristers for:
- Insightful advice and analysis.
- Excellent client care and management.
- Practical, solution-focused approaches.
- Exceptional advocacy skills.
They set a Gold standard with their clerking, which is wonderfully creative and dynamic… All chambers should aspire to work in the way that St John’s do.”
Instructing solicitor
Areas of expertise
High-Value Financial Remedies
Our team is renowned for expertise in complex, high-value financial remedy cases, especially those with an international or cross-jurisdictional dimension. We frequently advise high net worth individuals on:
- Division of significant assets, businesses, and trusts.
- Offshore holdings and international property.
- Complex pensions and long-term financial arrangements.
- Hidden assets and forensic accounting issues.
We act for spouses, partners, interveners, and third parties, ensuring that every financial dispute is thoroughly and strategically managed.
Public and Private Children Law
Our barristers are trusted with some of the most challenging cases in children law. We regularly appear in:
- Public law proceedings involving sexual abuse, trafficking, non-accidental injury, and brain injury.
- Private law disputes under the Children Act, including child arrangements, relocation (UK and abroad), parental responsibility, and enforcement.
We represent parents, guardians, CAFCASS Legal, local authorities, the Official Solicitor, and extended family members, ensuring the best interests of children are at the centre of proceedings.
Crossover & specialist work
Many family disputes overlap with other areas of law. Our team regularly advises and represents clients in:
- Court of Protection (health & welfare, property & affairs).
- Inheritance Act claims and probate-related disputes.
- Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act (ToLATA) cases.
- Education law disputes affecting children and young people.
- Child Maintenance Service (CMS) appeals and advice.
This cross-disciplinary expertise makes us the go-to Chambers for complex, multi-faceted disputes.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
We are leaders in ADR services, offering constructive alternatives to contested litigation. Members of the team provide:
- Private Financial Dispute Resolution hearings (FDRs) – both chairing and representing.
- Mediation – including represented mediation, balancing advocacy with collaboration.
- Arbitration – in both financial and children matters.
These options save clients time, cost, and stress, while still ensuring expert guidance and fair outcomes.
Innovation
The Covid-19 pandemic transformed family law practice, and we adapted quickly. Within days of the first lockdown, we became 98% paperless and equipped with full Teams/Zoom facilities.
We used these platforms creatively, supporting not only our clients but also judges and court staff who were navigating a rapid shift to remote hearings. Our adaptability highlighted our commitment to service and our ability to lead by example during times of change.
Clerking
Our clerking team is known for being:
- Approachable and responsive
- Dynamic problem-solvers
- Skilled at resolving listing issues
- Attentive to client needs and case personalities
Their proactive approach makes the instructing solicitor’s job easier and ensures that clients are matched with the right barrister for their case.
Commitment to access to justice
We believe access to justice is fundamental. Since the introduction of Graduated Fees in 2001, we have maintained a strong commitment to publicly funded work, ensuring that the most vulnerable members of society have proper representation.
Our barristers also support numerous initiatives assisting Litigants in Person and vulnerable witnesses, and we are actively involved in community-focused projects across the region.
Thought leadership
Members are frequently featured in the legal press, mainstream media, and specialist journals. Many also publish their own respected family law blogs, offering commentary on current issues and case law developments.
Our barristers have appeared on BBC programmes and in national publications, underlining their role as thought leaders and trusted commentators in family law.
Collaborative approach
Family law disputes often require multi-disciplinary collaboration. Our barristers work closely with:
- Valuers and forensic accountants.
- Pension specialists.
- Social workers and guardians.
- Medical experts and therapists.
This ensures that every case is presented with a comprehensive and evidence-based approach, maximising the chance of achieving the best possible outcome for clients.
Additional areas of work
Alongside core family law services, we also advise on:
- Civil partnership disputes.
- Professional negligence claims arising from family law cases.
Publications and training
Members regularly conduct seminars in Chambers, at solicitors’ offices, or at other chosen venues throughout the UK. We maintain close ties with academics and our members include several published authors, as well as writing for legal periodicals. If you would like to discuss any in-house training, please contact our family clerks on 0117 923 4720 or email [email protected].
Public Access
Some members of the team are also available to act, where appropriate, for members of the public, under the Public Access scheme. Read more.
Family & Divorce Team
Lucy Reed KC
- Call: 2002
- Silk: 2023
Susan Hunter
- Call: 1985
Nick Miller
- Call: 1994
Sarah Phillimore
- Call: 1994
Jacqueline Humphreys
- Call: 1994
Judi Evans
- Call: 1996
Delia Thornton
- Call: 1999
Zahid Hussain
- Call: 2001
Caroline Elford
- Call: 2002
Julia Belyavin
- Call: 2003
Zoë Saunders
- Call: 2003
Jody Atkinson
- Call: 2005
Olivia Pike
- Call: 2008
Richard Norman
- Call: 2009
Jack Harris
- Call: 2012
Oliver Riley
- Call: 2013
Asha Groves
- Call: 2013
Bethany Scarsbrook
- Call: 2014
Ryan Morgan
- Call: 2017
Sophie Smith-Holland
- Call: 2015
Harriet Dudbridge
- Call: 2015
Sarah Fincham
- Call: 2018
Dominik Morton
- Call: 2018
Zoey White
- Call: 2018
Liberty Crawford
- Call: 2019
Georgina Swinglehurst
- Call: 2019
Vivien Croly
- Call: 2019
Kate Pearson
- Call: 2019
James Adams
- Call: 2021
Diana M. Panizzon-Pineda
- Call: 2021
Laura Rowe
- Call: 2021
Chelsea Bartlett
- Call: 2021
Jenny Wilson
- Call: 2021
Glen Pritchard
- Call: 2022
Directory Quotes
St John’s Chambers is a first-rate family set.”
A strong set with an extensive range of specialist and experienced matrimonial and financial remedy barristers, experienced at handling cross-jurisdictional matters for high-net-worth individuals.”
A first-class set of chambers that offers suitable counsel for a variety of cases related to family law.”
St John’s Chambers is one of the leading sets on the Western Circuit for public and private child law work.”
St John’s Chambers is a strong set for divorce adn financial remedy work, with several barristers, including a KC, well-known across the Western Circuit for acting in high-value and technically complex cases.”
A lengthy roster of silks and juniors with invaluable expertise in a wide range of family and matrimonial matters. Chambers has good quality and experienced counsel available to deal with all aspects of cases and all levels of complexity.”
All of the barristers at St John’s are extremely capable of dealing with all types of matters, from simple cases through to incredibly complicated and contentious ones.”
St John’s Chambers is a very strong family set, housing a team which covers all aspects of family law.”
St John’s Chambers has a lengthy roster of silks and juniors with invaluable expertise in a wide range of family and matrimonial matters. Members are particularly skilled at handling cross-jurisdictional matters for high net worth individuals, especially those concerning the division of assets as part of divorce proceedings. The barristers are frequently called upon to assist with the most complex public children mandates encompassing sexual abuse, brain injury and trafficking matters, and also take on private work such as Children Act proceedings. ‘It is an excellent chambers with strength at all levels,’ one interviewee notes.”
Excellent set’ St John’s Chambers is ‘a go-to’ chambers in the South West for hard working, knowledgeable and good quality barristers across the board in the arena of family law.”
St John’s Chambers has a lengthy roster of silks and juniors with invaluable expertise in a wide range of family and matrimonial matters.”
Cases
- Cases
E (Section 37 Direction, The Children Act 1989) [2025] EWCA Civ 470
- Cases
Re M (A Child: Intermediaries) [2025] EWCA Civ 440
- Cases
A Local Authority v T & Ors [2025] EWHC 334 (Fam)
- Cases
Child A and B [2024] EWFC 284 (B) (11 October 2024)
- Cases
J: Local Authority consent to Deprivation of Liberty, Re [2024] EWHC 1690 (Fam)
Resources
Client Quotes
Solid set of family law barristers from most senior to most junior. Excellent support and collaboration provided to their up and coming juniors.”
“St Johns Chambers is one of the fore-front chambers offering counsel for Public Childcare. The clerks are particularly helpful and will go above and beyond to find cover for hearings at short notice.”
St John’s are very well respected in Bristol and the South West, used by our team across our offices. They have a range of specialisms and have assisted in cases involving children, complex finances and unmarried couples.”
Seminars & Events
- Past Event
Children public and private law conference
Venue: We the Curious, Bristol - Past Event
Family Finance Debate Series 2025
Venue: St John's Chambers, 101 Victoria Street, Bristol BS1 6PU - Past Event
Divorce & Financial Remedy Conference
Venue: Bristol Old Vic
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